I was recently contacted by a pilot who said he was flying a LearJet 60 at the time I took a photo of it. In his email he requested a hi res, watermark free copy of it so he can have a print of it made for his desk. He also said he didn't know what the going rate for a photo was but he would gladly pay for it.

First of all I do not plan on giving him the file so he could have a copy made. I will have it printed and then sell it to him.
Second of all I don't have any idea of what to charge for a printed copy. I know it depends on the size of print he wants. I used a Canon 40D and shot in RAW mode. I do not know what the maximum size of print I can have made and make it still look good. I thought about going through someplace like MPIX to have it done.

If anybody familiar with doing print sales would offer me some advice I would greatly appreciate it.

I am not trying to tell you how to handle this sale, but here is what I would do. Since it clearly seems to be for personal use, I would either give him the file (so he can print it himself) or offer to sell him a print at cost. In return, I would ask him to give you a tour of the jet and maybe some other jets he has access to. That way you can get even more nice shots...

If you really want to sell the picture, I don't think you can ask for too much. If you were selling exclusive rights to the shot to an airline, ad company or author, you could base the price on the profit/benefit they get from the picture. With an individual, I don't think you can ask for more than $50 (on the high end).

That must be a pretty big desk it's going on. I can't imagine him wanting anything larger than an 8x10.

It is for personal use, but you still should make a little profit on it. Shipping plus materials will be around $5 and the cost to print should be another $5. I might double or triple it and quote that. Maybe $20 and a tour or $30 with no tour.

Quoting GdsF100 (Reply 3):I was thinking closer to $40. But I do like the suggestion of the tour of the jet.

Personally, I see far greater value in a tour than an 8x10 for personal use. I'd feel kinda insulted if I gave you a personal tour of my Lear, perhaps letting you sit in the cockpit, etc... and you still wanted money for a print? C'mon

Also consider you'd probably score some cool up close and personal shots of the jet - inside and out.

I'd just ask him if there's any possibility for a tour. If yes, you could bring the print as a gift in exchange. If not, I'd charge him just a few $ above cost.

The pilot I am in contact with has said the other pilot with him at the time and the owner would like a print also. He said an 8x10 would be fine but he personally wants one poster size. He also insisted on paying me above cost for my time and effort. Since the owner wants one also I may be able to score a tour and payment. But if it comes down to it I think I would rather have a tour of the jet.

Quoting GdsF100 (Thread starter):I do not know what the maximum size of print I can have made and make it still look good.

As for this question, it's useful to start with the publishing industry standard of 300 pixels per inch, which means a 40D image would produce a print nearly 13 inches wide assuming no edge cropping. However, framed prints at 200 ppi or so will still stand up to scrutiny especially since they are typically viewed from a greater distance than a picture in a book. So you can do 18 x 12 inches comfortably.

For prints bigger than 18 x 12 I would interpolate the image up to a larger size in Photoshop.

Make the most of the available light ... a lesson of photography that applies to life

If the owner can afford his own jet then he can afford a few bob for you.

About blowing it up, I personally think you can go as high as you want, if you have bigger pictures you stand further back. I have personally taken a 6mp file up to 30 x 20 and it looked fine. People who look at pictures through microscopes and look at samples zoomed at 100% on review websites should go buy some books on lighting

Quoting flipdewaf (Reply 9):About blowing it up, I personally think you can go as high as you want, if you have bigger pictures you stand further back. I have personally taken a 6mp file up to 30 x 20 and it looked fine. People who look at pictures through microscopes and look at samples zoomed at 100% on review websites should go buy some books on lighting

Similarly I have blown a 5mp image up to A0 size (albeit bleached of much of its colour as it was a background to text on a poster) without any noticeable drop in quality from the viewing distance of 2-3m it was intended for.

Quoting GdsF100 (Thread starter):I used a Canon 40D and shot in RAW mode. I do not know what the maximum size of print I can have made and make it still look good. I thought about going through someplace like MPIX to have it done.

I have a poster hanging on my wall (thru smugmug) 20x30".......it came out very nice!